Two mana counterspells you aren’t running but could
Notice how I say ‘could’ and not ‘should’ because a lot of these cards are going to be very situational.
When we look at the decks people submit in deck checks, more specifically the decks that play in Battlecruiser and Low power, we notice close to every deck with blue available will run Counterspell and Negate. If they run more counterspells than that, most of those will be in the 3 mana value range. I believe this to be a three part problem:
1. The environment we’re trying to curate at those power levels. Battlecruiser and Low power decks shouldn’t be running all of the Forces/free/1 drop counterspells all the time. People need to stand a fighting chance against decks in the same power level, and most players who are used to how our power levels work simply know not to add an abundance of the best in slot counterspells when aiming to play in those power levels.
2. People using online resources to brew their decks and compare them to what others are playing - features like the card/deck search bar on Moxfield.com and the average deck feature on EDHrec.com for example. Grabbing the average response package makes it easy to not put thought into what you should slot yourself, which in turn makes for samey-type decks that look a lot like the one everyone else is playing. Our mentors are actually quite good in identifying whether a deck was built from the ground up or by going from a deck average. More on that in a future article perhaps.
3. A lot of three mana counterspells get printed into regular sets so they are readily available and easy to get from your common chaff box. Cancel; Didn’t Say Please; Saw it Coming; Sinister Sabotage; the list goes on.
I’d like to highlight some 2 mana counterspells that I believe people could slot in the right deck/environment.
I believe all of these can be equally useful in the right deck - there are even options available outside of blue!
If you’re playing infect, consider Corrupted Resolve
Use your strength and turn that into a bonus. Atraxa, Preators' Voice and Brokkos, Apex of Forever when already on the infect plan should find a slot for Corrupted Resolve - we see some Fuel for the Cause cards pop up every now and then, but keeping 4 mana open isn’t always feasible.
If you’re in Dimir colors, consider Countersquall
This is Negate with an extra color requirement. For that requirement, you get to make someone lose 2 life.
If you’re playing Eloise, Nephalia Sleuth or Kels, Fight Fixer you’re likely already going down the aristocrat gain/drain route. Sygg, River Cuttroath gets another potential card draw, bringing you 66.66% (repeating of course) of the way there simply by counterspelling.
A lot of Dimir decks can benefit from this - keeping specifically blue black mana open shouldn’t be hard if you’ve worked on your mana base - and more often than not, it should be easier than having to keep 3 mana open. Bonus bragging points if Countersqualll puts your opponent's life total to 0.
If your creatures are large, consider Decisive Denial or Spell Rupture
+1/+1 Counter decks like Pir and Toothy or Ezuri, Claw of Progress; Big stompy decks like Volo, Guide to Monsters or voltron decks like Eutropia the Twice-Favored will likely have one or several creatures big enough to make these cards useful.
The fight effect on Decisive Denial can be a solid removal piece - a fight effect that occasionally counterspells fills two removal slots on one card. Runo Stormkirk and other big sea monster tribal lists should have no issue making sure Spell Rupture resolves in their favor.
If you’re playing lands/hand size matters, consider Deprive
I’m looking at you, people who enjoy Mystic Sanctuary as much as I do… Works well in decks with Kefnet, the Mindful - hand size 7, counter a spell, bounce a land, hand size still 7 - or decks helmed by Patron of the Moon, and if you didn’t naturally draw into a land, Field of the Dead and Landfall decks won’t mind hitting another land drop either.
Prevent that big finisher or boardwipe with Disdainful Stroke
Stops Overwhelming Stampede, Triumph of the Hordes, a large Finale of Devastation, Akroma’s Will, Damnation, Wrath of God, Blasphemous Act, Austere Command, Rite of Replication and any number of other big scary things you can think off. Does not stop Cyclonic Rift or Damn (Prohibit does, but didn’t make it in this article).
★★★★☆, the staff was friendly, would eat here again.
If your commander or average mana value is high, consider Dispersal Shield
When you have several 5-6-7 drops your deck relies on to stick around, Dispersal Shield hits close to any boardwipe and almost all targeted removal people commonly run. If you play a costly commander like The Ur-Dragon; Reaper King; Brinelin, the Moon Kraken; Jadzi, Oracle of Arcaviosor; Nicol Bolas or Thraximundar, the potential downside on the card is likely irrelevant to you.
If your deck relies on Enter the Battlefield effects, consider Familiar’s Ruse
This provides you with some great repeatable value. Return your Acidic Slime; Agent of Treachery; Eternal Witness; Dockside Extortionist or Gray Merchant of Asphodel back to hand to cast it again later. If your deck already has cards like Conjurer’s Closet, Strionic Resonator or Sword of Hearth and Home, you’re likely the right demographic for Familiar’s Ruse.
If you’re in mono white, consider Illumination
While white isn’t aching for more artifact or enchantment removal - cards like Disenchant and Generous Gift exist after all - there are a number of them you really want to deal with on the stack over letting it resolve and dealing with it later.
Stops Rhystic Study; Smothering Tithe; Aura Shards; Underworld Breach; Anointed Procession; Bolas’s Citadel; The Great Henge; Ashnod’s Altar; Sensei’s Divining Top and Aetherflux Reservoir before your opponents are allowed to get utility out of their play. Stops every indestructible Theros god too.
If your deck focusses on flying, consider Lofty Denial
While this counterspell still has a chance to not counter due to your opponent being able to pay 4, it will at least interrupt the rest of their turn because they weren’t expecting to have to spend that extra mana.
If you’re playing Millicent, Restless Revenant of Alela, Artful Provocateur, it’ll probably never be pay 1.
“After that resolves, my next spell is ...” is a sentence you will have heard by now, and Lofty Denial potentially not countering what you had in mind will at least mess with your opponent’s flow shutting off potential payoffs or follow up spells they had in mind after casting their first.
When you’re playing mill or top deck matters, consider Memory Lapse
Recently banned in Historic as a ‘must include card in decks with blue’ says something about its power.
Knowing what’s on top of someone’s library can prove to be beneficial - commanders like Xanathar, Guild Kingpin and Pako/Haldan come to mind. You now also know what their next draw will be so you have hand knowledge to your advantage, and depending on the situation, they could be out of the game. ‘My hand is empty and i’m about to get taken out, here’s a wheel hoping I draw into something’ - or mill it away before they can draw it again.
If you’re playing blue Devotion or Enchantments, consider Thassa’s Rebuff
Racking up a devotion count in the right deck isn’t too difficult. Callaphe, Beloved of the sea and Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign will likely have a devotion of 8 or more without realizing they could use this devotion to help on the stack. Merfolk decks with Kopala, Warden of the Waves or Svyelun of Sea and Sky already make their board difficult to interact with by taxing their opponents - adding in another low mana value counterspell further improves the resilience of your already established board.
If you’re going very wide, consider Unified Will
Most token decks with access to blue can likely benefit from Unified Will. If you rely on cards like Scute swarm and Rampaging Baloths to close out your game, try monitoring how often your board is the largest the next few games, and let your opponents ‘be your audience to their failure’.
If you’re in mono black, consider Withering Boon
While it’s true that black deals with creatures rather well, there are some creature cards you really want to stop on the stack. Dockside Extortionist; Avenger of Zendikar; Thassa’s Oracle; Tiamat and Craterhoof Behemoth are definitely worth 3 life and 2 mana to not resolve.
To finish: some Meta/Counter-meta spells. I want to be clear here: I don’t enjoy slotting specific ‘hah, that’ll show them next time’ cards because you dislike people - to me this signifies there’s either an issue with your pod's behavior, power level, vibe or game expectations.
That said: If you play with the same people over and over and for laughs you want to slot one card to make them second guess playing the same type of deck every time…
If people often play graveyard reanimator decks, consider Grip of Amnesia.
Most playgroups will have someone who just can’t get enough of Muldrotha, The Gravetide; Meren of Clan Nel Toth; Chainer, Nightmare Adept or other reanimation decks. Grip of Amnesia does let your opponent choose, but they will likely want to keep their graveyard and you get to draw a card for your efforts.
If you yourself are running a commander like Umbris, Fear Manifest, this is another spell where they will most likely choose to have their spell countered instead. (Thank you Crabwave for bringing this card to my attention 🦀)
There is another option for similar type decks called Laquatus's Disdain.
Just like Grip of Amnesia, another counterspell and draw for 2 mana. As someone very committed to playing Dimir -A total of 5 of my 11 currently assembled decks - my opponent casting Laquatus’s Disain and Grip of Amnesia would be tough decisions to make on my end, since the graveyard is essentially my second hand.
There are obviously more options than the one I’ve mentioned, but these are the ones I could find a nice practical use for, depending on the deck and power level you’re playing. All of these cards could see more play. I’m hoping some of you will consider them over the standard Didn’t Say Please or Cancel or Arcane De… Let’s not go there today.
“This article is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.”
